S Club party at Les Mis

The costume is not quite the sort of thing he wore as a singer in S Club, but if Jon Lee felt awkward during his West End debut he did not let it show. He was given a rousing ovation by the audience at the Palace Theatre last night after his first appearance in the long-running musical Les Miserables.

Perhaps the sight of some familiar faces helped calm the nerves, as all the former members of the pop group were there to lend support.

Lee, 21, who donned a frock coat and patterned waistcoat to play the lead role of the student Marius in the award-winning show, has revealed that despite spending four years in S Club, he never once recorded a lead vocal for the band.

He said he always mimed during TV appearances, which helped explain why he was feeling nervous about his adult stage debut.

"It's going to be tough, there's no doubt about it - it's going to stretch me," said Lee, who will perform in eight shows each week.

He said of his time in S Club, formerly S Club 7: "We'd only ever sing live when we were doing the concerts. We were miming the whole time we were on TV. With this I get to sing live every night."

Lee said he took the occasional lead vocal during concerts, but to most people he was "the blond boy in the back doing the backflips".

"It was weird because they'd let me sing when it was the live concerts. Then they'd put me up at the front and I'd get to do solos," he said. "I could pick whatever song I wanted and do covers and stuff on tour. But they never let me do it on any of the records.

"Maybe they didn't think I was 'poppy' enough."

The group split earlier this year after a series of farewell concerts. After making their chart debut in 1999, they had four number one singles. They also starred in a number of TV shows for the BBC and ITV.

Last month singer Rachel Stevens signed a £1 million solo record deal with Polydor and pop mogul Simon Fuller's 19 company, which controlled the group's original career.

None of the other members have yet confirmed their plans.

Cameron Mackintosh's production of Les Miserables is in its 18th year at the Palace.